ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S2079

Clinical - Sarcoma, skin cancer, melanoma

ESTRO 2024

Elizabeth A Barnes 1 , Paula Tur 2 , May N Tsao 1

1 Odette Cancer Centre, Radiation Oncology, Toronto, Canada. 2 Newcastle University, Student, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Purpose/Objective:

Non melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common malignancy worldwide, with incidence rates rapidly increasing. However, when compared with other tumor sites, research in NMSC has historically been lacking. Radiotherapy plays an important role in the management of NMSC. Advances in precision imaging, external beam and brachytherapy delivery, 3D printing, molecular profiling, and the use of immunotherapy have all recently been incorporated into NMSC management. The annual ESTRO congress is an important forum to discuss new developments and disseminated knowledge to the oncology community. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and trends in NMSC abstracts presented at annual ESTRO congresses in the last 8 years.

Material/Methods:

Online ESTRO conference abstract books from 2016 to 2023 were independently reviewed by two radiation oncologists with expertise in NMSC. Abstracts were included if they contained any of the terms “skin cancer, non melanoma, keratinocyte, dermal/cutaneous/skin sarcoma or lymphoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, angiosarcoma, BCC/basal cell carcinoma, skin/cutaneous SCC/squamous cell carcinoma, and/or MCC/Merkel cell carcinoma. Abstracts were excluded if they referred to keloids, Bowen’s disease, actinic keratosis, extramammary Paget’s disease (EMPD), melanoma, lentigo maligna (LM), mucosal/head and neck SCC. Presentations from pre- ESTRO meeting courses were also excluded. The numbers of teaching lectures, oral, and poster abstracts were recorded. Abstracts were categorized as pertaining to clinical or physics research; external beam radiotherapy and/or brachytherapy; and if data were collected prospective or retrospectively. Abstracts exclusive to care of the elderly with NMSC were also recorded. Data were reported using descriptive statistics (mean, range and percentages). To evaluate the endpoints changing over years, weighted generalized linear regression was conducted. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All analyses were conducted by Statistical Analysis of Software (SAS version 9.4, Cary, NC).

Results:

An average of 0.51% (86/16,747; range 0.38-0.60%) of abstracts presented per ESTRO congress over the eight year study period were related to NMSC. This rate significantly increased over time (positive coefficient 0.063; p<.0001). A total of 86 abstracts were identified: 8 teaching lectures, 11 oral, and 67 poster presentations. The rate of teaching and poster presentations significantly increased, where the rate of oral presentations decreased over time (p<.0001). Sixty-five (76%) abstracts were related to clinical care and 21 (24%) to physics research. Brachytherapy related abstracts (50, 59%) were more prevalent than those pertaining to external beam radiotherapy (35, 41%). Eight abstracts focused on care of the elderly patient with NMSC. Only 4 abstracts involved prospectively collected data. One abstract specifically involved education in NMSC.

Conclusion: